Saturday, January 9, 2010

Seth Godin blogged recently about his idea to transform libraries for the 21st century. Apparently he's been talking to librarians who are unhappy that their DVD circulation is up (as it would be, in this economy when people are looking for cheap/free home entertainment). But I think he has some things very wrong:

"They can't survive as community-funded repositories for books that individuals don't want to own (or for reference books we can't afford to own.)" I have yet to see the person able to afford all the books they will ever need in their lifetime. Or a personal subscription to all the magazines they might want to read, or all the databases they might need to consult. It reminds me of the quote by Malcolm Forbes: "The richest person in the world - in fact all the riches in the world - couldn't provide you with anything like the endless, incredible loot available at your local library."

I'm not sure I'd want to live in a world where we only had access to the ideas we could afford to buy.

"The information is free now." Information is never free. Libraries and librarians work to provide access (using your tax dollars) to hugely diverse, authoritative sources of information in many formats. Yes, there is more access to information than ever before but access is not equal for all. I know Godin's rebuttal would be "buy a cheap netbook & mooch off a neighbor's free WiFi" but there are still people who don't have the money or comfort level with technology to make that happen. Librarians are useful because we're professional searchers; able to help people formulate their questions, refine their ideas, and locate the best information to match those needs. Just because you can type into the Google search box doesn't mean you're an information expert.

My last thought: in many communities, the public library is the last truly democratic place. Anyone can come in, anyone can read for free, anyone can meet freely. There needs to be at least one place that is open to all in every community, and the library is as much a place as it is a collection.

4 comments:

I just love a Saturday visit to the local public library with my kids in tow. We can freely choose whatever feeds our interest, which only makes us hungrier! We'd never be as hungry and willing to try new books/music/videos if we had to buy everything.

I agree completely with you about the importance of the library being a place for everyone where they are treated the same in respects of things that are made available to them. We were a farming community that has lost most of our small farmers and other businesses these past few years. It is so important that our families have access to any information that we can provide for them. Kay Lassiter